Thursday, October 27, 2016

Coq au vin is a traditional French recipe of chicken/rooster cooked or braised in red wine. The first time I read about this recipe was from Julie Child's cook book. Recently I found this recipe which is an Anglo Indian version of Coq au Vin. I tried this Indian version and instantly fell in love with the recipe.This recipe is adapted from here

Heat oil in a pan and add chopped onion, bay leaves and saute till translucent.
Add the marinated chicken and sear it in high heat till the meat changes color and slightly brown on the crust.
Pour tomato puree and red wine and mix well. Cook till meat is half done and add potatoes or carrots. Add 1/2 cup of water cover and simmer for 15 minutes or till the meat is cooked and gravy thickens. garnish with chopped coriander leaves.
Serve with rice or bread.

Monday, October 17, 2016

Burfi is an Indian fudge made with milk and milk solid/khoya .It is a sweet confectionery that is usually made on festive occasions. There are different kinds of burfi. This one is made with coconut milk,khoya and grated coconut. It is flavored with cardamom powder and rose essence.Try this sweet,you will surely love it.

In a mixer pulse the coconut and coconut milk into a course mixture. No need to make it into a paste.
In a heavy bottom pan add sugar and water and simmer till all sugar dissolves and the consistency thickens (one string consistency). Add the coconut and khoya and mix well. Stir continuously
to
avoid sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add half of the ghee and cook the mixture till it
becomes thick and leaves the edges of the pan.
Add the cardamom powder, rose water, rose essence, permitted pink food color(optional) and ghee. You can also add toasted nuts this at this stage. Stir for two more minutes and remove from the stove.
Grease a plate with ghee and transfer the contents into the plate.
Flatten and smooth it with the back of a spoon and let it set for 3-4 hour. Cut into desired shape and serve.

Heat oil in a pan and saute shallots, curry leaves, green chilly and chopped ginger till translucent.
Add turmeric powder and salt and then the chopped plantains. Mix well and add thin coconut milk.Cover and cook till the plantain are cooked and soft. Remove the lid and mix cardamom powder, cumin powder and powdered jaggery. Mix well. Add thick coconut milk and simmer for a minute and remove from the stove. Serve with appam or idiyappam.

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Gongura chicken curry or chicken curry with sorrel leaves is very popular in Andhra Pradesh.
Sorrel leaves have nutritional value and is known for it tangy taste. It is used to make dal/lentil
curries and also added in chicken and mutton curries. This spicy tangy chicken curry is a great accompaniment with rice or
chapati.This is not the authentic Andhra curry but a home style version that my mom used to make. We spend several years in Andhra and mom picked up the food culture and Andhra and experiments several recipes and this is one is a family favorite. Try this simple, spicy and aromatic chicken curry,you will surely love this .

Separate gongura leaves from the stem. You can discard the
stem. Wash the leaves and drain. Coarsely chop the leaves and set
aside.Heat half of the oil in a pan and add the chopped leaves and saute till
the greens wilt. At first it will look mushy and later will become dry.
Saute till you see oil separating and the leaves changing to darker
color. Switch off the flame. You can either make his into a paste or just mix into the curry later.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom pan and add bay leaves,onions,green chilly and curry leaves and saute till onions turn golden brown. Add tomatoes and saute till it is soft.Now add the marinated chicken and roast in a medium
flame till all the masalas are well coated and the chicken starts
oozing its own water. This will take about four to five minutes.Close the lid for two minutes and cook in a
medium flame. At this stage the chicken will cook in its own juice.
After two to three minutes add add 1 1/2 cup of water and check salt.
Close the lid and cook for 8-10 minutes and stir occasionally. At this stage add the cooked gongura leaves and garam masala and mix well.Simmer for another 8-10 minutes or till the curry reach the desired consistency . Switch off the flame after a minute and garnish with
coriander leaves. Serve warm with rice or chapati.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

Chickoo/ Sapota is a tropical fruit with a sweet caramelized flavor.It is delicious fruits and can be used to make milkshakes and desserts. This recipe is inspired from Tarla Dalal's chickoo halwa recipe. She used mawa in her recipe. I used coconut instead. The key ingredients of this halwa is chickoo,grated
coconut and condensed milk.Try this halwa, you will
surely love it.

Peel the skin,chop and lightly mash the chickoo.Heat ghee in a heavy pan and fry cashews drain and keep aside.

Now add the crushed chickoo and cook it in low flame for 6-8 minutes. Add the grated coconut, sugar and condensed milk and mix thoroughly. Stir continuously for another 10 minutes and in between add a tsp of ghee to prevent it from sticking.When it starts leaving the edges
of the pan and ghee separates mix in the cardamom powder and switch off the flame.Spread on a greased tray and allow this to
set for four to five hours and then cut into desired shapes.

Dry fish is salted sun dried fish. It is used to make fish curry and is made just like the regular fish curry. This fish curry is coconut based and is spicy, sour with raw mango and tamarind. The dry fish in this recipe is mackerel. You can use any other dry fish of your choice.

Rinse and clean the fish thoroughly. Soak in warm water for 10 minutes.
Make a fine paste or coconut, tamarind, chilly powder, turmeric powder and fenugreek powder. Finally add shallots and ginger and give it a quick pulse. Just crush it coarsely ,no need to make a paste.
Add this paste into an earthen pot or pan. Add chopped mangoes, green chilly, little salt and water. Mix and bring this to a boil. Now add the soaked dry fish and chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook in medium flame for 10-12 minutes or till the gravy thickens to desired consistency. Switch off the flame.Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When they splutter add red
chilly and curry leaves and saute for a minute. Pour this over the curry.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

Sardine is very common sea food in Kerala. I love this small oily fish and tastes best when it is fried. Mathi adukkiyathu refers to layering of the fish and the masala.This recipe is very similar to the Pepper Sardine posted earlier. But the best part of this recipe is that, the fish and the masala is spicy and slightly crispy. This is inspired from a recipe I found this in a newspaper and I guess it is one among the collection of Mrs K. M. Mathew recipes.Had tried several of her recipes in the past and they have turned out really good. So I decided to give this a try and was really surprised as to how simple, yet tasty this turned out.

Clean fish and squeeze some lemon juice,rub on the fish and then give a
final rinse. Make a few gashes on the fish.Marinate with salt and pepper powder and set aside.

Heat a pan and roast dry red chilly, coriander seeds and fenugreek seeds. When it cools down make it into a course powder. Crush shallots, ginger, garlic and curry leaves into a course mixture. Add his to the above spice powder along with one tsp of coconut oil and tamarind. Give it a mix. This is the masala for the fish.Rub half of this masala on the fish and set aside for ten minutes.

Heat 2 tsp of oil in a pan and add mustard seeds. When it splutters add chopped onions and saute till it becomes translucent. Place the sardines in
single layer. Spread the rest of the masala on top.Cover and cook in medium flame for two minutes . Remove the lid and continue cooking till one side is slightly crispy. With a spatula gently turn the fish and the masala so that the other side and continue cooking for another 3-4 minutes in low flames. Sprinkle some fresh curry leaves and switch off the flame. Serve with rice.